The spine is composed of separate but interlocking vertebrae which work like building blocks, one stacked upon another, to provide support for the body. Without proper muscular support, these blocks become unstable. Between these vertebrae are shock absorbing pads called disks which keep the space between the vertebrae open enough to insure that the nerves and the blood vessels can pass between them without injury. If the muscles adjacent the spine become too tight or the disks flatten out, decreased circulation or nerve function interference can result.
The disks flatten over a period of time principally because the weight of the head, neck and shoulders, and because the gravitational stress of an active lifestyle constantly compress the spine throughout our lives. Additionally, over eating which generally results in weak abdominal muscles, poor posture and lack of exercise all contribute to weaken the muscular support for the vertebrae and can make a person more susceptible to back sprains or more serious injury. In this light, it is well known that such problems can either be lessened, avoided or cured through decompression of the vertebrae and an exercise program designed at strengthening the back extensor and abdominal muscles.
A strong, healthy body often helps an individual to sleep more soundly, increase his or her productivity, and avoid unnecessary injuries. Besides helping an individual to feel good, a proper diet and a rigorous exercise program can help a person look good and enhance his or her self-image. The importance of this is illustrated by today's fashions which increasingly call for strong and firm abdominal and gluteus maximus muscles. These factors have created a need for devices and methods designed to promote good health, by decompressing the spine and strengthening the supporting muscles, and good looks also by strenghtening and toning the abdominal and gluteus maximus muscles.
Several devices have been devised which attempt to decompress the spine via controlled traction in the cervical and/or lumbar spine areas. Some of these devices effect this decompression by suspending the body from the heels in an up-side-down manner. Problems with such devices, however, include the possibility of serious trauma to the feet, ankle, knee and hip joints which can result from the suspension of the body from the ankles. Additionally, these devices have proven to be less than entirely satisfactory at strengthening the back extensor muscles and toning the gluteus maximus muscles.
Other spinal decompression/gravity traction exercise devices are used to suspend the body above a support surface by the thighs, pelvis or abdomen. Some of these devices are designed principally to support the user in an inverted position for spinal decompression and the exercises performable on such devices are merely an incident of the inverted supported position. Other such devices, which typically rotate to a limited extent to facilitate inversion of the body, are specifically designed so that exercising can be done while simultaneously decompressing the spinal column. However, the positioning of the body on these latter devices and their present state of design make it very difficult to fully exercise the back extensor, the abdominal, and the gluteus maximus muscles.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fully collapsible and portable exercise device which is principally constructed for stretching, strengthening and toning the back extensor, the abdominal, and the gluteus maximus muscles while simultaneously decompressing the spinal column. Such a device should include a stable support frame capable of suspending a body above a ground-support surface and withstanding the torque exerted by rigorous exercise on the device. Safety features designed to prevent the unintended repositioning of device components during exercising should be included as well. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.